We had a free morning in Paris, so mom and I walked over to the huge old cemetery we had been looking out on from our 20th floor room at the Le Meridien Hotel. It was a lovely morning, and we walked about an hour, returning to the hotel in time to check out and catch the 11 am bus to the train station with our group.
The train station was quite lovely, and we had about 45 minutes to have a coffee/tea and buy a sandwich to eat on the train to Metz. The TGV train left promptly at 12:39 pm and we zipped east from Paris towards the Moselle River. The train was quite comfortable, and although the TGV technically almost flies across the French countryside, we didn't have a sensation of going fast as I had expected. The TGV can reach speeds of over 300 mph, but usually runs about 160 mph when carrying passengers. We really only noticed the speed whenever we met another train.
The 1.5-hour ride passed quickly, and we soon arrived in Metz, France, where we boarded two buses for the 2-hour drive to Trier. The buses rode along the Moselle River, and we passed all the way through Luxembourg (30 miles) on the way to Germany. Nothing like 3 countries in less than 2 hours! We had a short walking tour of Trier, which is one of the oldest cities in Germany, dating back to Roman times. We saw the famous Porta Nigra, which is the only remaining fortified Roman gate into the old city. The bus also passed by many of the 48 churches (and 1 synagogue) in the 100,000-resident city. Trier is a definite "must see" for those interested in Roman history. Today, the city is a booming college town, filled with young people. I think we all would have liked to stay longer.
We arrived at the Avalon Tranquility, which was docked on the Moselle River near Trier, about 5:00 pm. Right before we got to the ship, it started pouring down rain. We got quickly checked in, and were delighted to find our luggage had arrived safely.
The vessel sailed away from Trier at 7 pm. Our first dinner on the ship was excellent, and the exceptional food continued at every meal we had on the Avalon Tranquility.
The next morning we awoke in Bernkastel, Germany.
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